Amazon will avoid a lengthy antitrust investigation, as the Federal Trade Commission announced Thursday it would allow the company to complete its acquisition of Whole Foods, the Wall Street Journal reports. Whole Foods shareholders also cleared the $13.7 billion deal Wednesday. Both companies have said they hope to close the deal by the end of the year.

Hackett Takes a Quantum Leap

The Hackett Group announced Thursday it had launched Quantum Leap, what it called in a press release a “digital benchmarking and performance improvement platform.” The platform is backed by more than 13,000 business benchmarking studies, which offers insight into the successful behaviors and practices of leading organizations.

Mineral Reserves

The Brazilian government has abolished a national reserve area in the Amazon to open the area up for mining, according to the BBC. The area, which is larger than Denmark, is thought to be rich in gold, copper and other minerals.

OECD Economies

And finally, an economic update: All of the world’s major economies are for the first time in a decade growing in sync, the Wall Street Journal reports, with global economic output projected to grow 3.5% this year and 3.6% in 2018.